Students in all residence halls participated in their last hall activities of calendar year 2017. While some students decorated their hallways for the holidays, others celebrated the season by making their own handmade snowglobes. Hemingway House provided a relaxing break from rehearsing and studying with a “spa night” that included facemasks, nail painting and plenty of hot cocoa.

At the Dennison Center, students participated in a variety of health and wellness programming. Dec. 1 saw the launch of “Elf for Health,” a month-long wellness initiative that challenged students to complete a simple daily wellness challenge, such as trying a new workout routine, eating a healthy snack or saying “good morning” to someone new. Students also continued their regularly-scheduled soccer matches. On Dec. 11, students, faculty and staff competed in a three-on-three basketball tournament. A faculty team took home the win, with the student team consisting of Zhaohan Pan, Bowen Ha and Ye Ma placing second. The Dennison Center also got into the holiday spirit by hosting an ugly sweater contest, with the stuffed unicorn from Despicable Me as the grand prize for ugliest sweater.

This weekend, students will have the opportunity to see the new Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi, on its opening weekend. A bus of students will travel to Traverse City on Saturday evening to be among the first to see the latest installment of the popular series.

As October drew to a close, students participated in a variety of Halloween-themed activities.

The celebration began on Friday, Oct. 27 with a screening of the newly-released second season of the hit Netflix drama Stranger Things. For those not yet caught up on the first season, the movie Halloween Town was also shown.

On Saturday, students presented and attended spooky carnival-type attractions in each dormitory. The activities included ghost stories, apple bobbing, donuts on a string, cookie decorating and a haunted house. The evening concluded with a spooky Halloween Dance featuring a costume contest and a DJ.

The festivities continued on Sunday, when students donned their costumes for trick-or-treating at their teachers’ homes on Faculty Lane.

There were more events for students on Halloween itself. Various staff departments in the Maddy Building also dressed up for the occasion and decorated their hallways to match their theme. Students were invited to tour the hallways, see the staff members’ costumes, collect sweet treats and vote for their favorite department.

Students flocked to the Dennison Center for games of volleyball, soccer and dodgeball. Other students took on the building’s climbing wall. In the dance building, students limbered up and relaxed with yoga classes.

While most of the month was chilly, a few warm days allowed students to enjoy the outdoors. The residents of McWhorter and Mozart-Beethoven took advantage of one such day to explore the nearby forests on a nature walk.

Students were also invited to participate in November’s campus-wide wellness initiatives. Some cheered on the faculty and staff members growing Movember moustaches for men’s health awareness. Others participated in “Planksgiving,” a program that challenged students, faculty and staff to plank for a consistently growing amount of time every day during the month of November.

While academic and artistic classes kept students busy, many found time to participate in a variety of athletic activities at the Dennison Center.

Beginning the first week of classes, the Dennison Center began offering classes of its own, with selections including yoga, pilates and beginner ballet. There have also been weekly, informal soccer matches. The Center has also hosted a ping-pong tournament, a faculty-versus-students bubble soccer game and volleyball matches.

The Dennison Center is also open daily to allow students to train at their leisure.

After a busy first week of academic and artistic classes, Arts Academy students unwound with daylong class trips on Sept. 8.

The freshman class visited nearby Traverse City and spent the day exploring the downtown area. While in the city, the students shopped, sampled the local cuisine and participated in a scavenger hunt created by Residence Life staff.

Sophomores spent the day at Lake Ann Camp, where they took on a challenge course that includes a Jacob’s ladder, climbing tower, Goliath balance beam and ropes course.

The junior class traveled to Crystal Mountain Resort. At the popular ski resort, the students found plenty of facilities for late-summer fun: swimming pools, a ropes course and the Michigan Legacy Art Park, which combines a nature hike with sculptures by Michigan artists.

Senior and postgraduate students participated in an Interlochen tradition: a day trip to Mackinac Island. Students rented bikes or explored the island on foot, enjoying both the natural beauty of the island and its historic buildings and shops.

Mozart-Beethoven students spent an enjoyable evening tye-dyeing garments as a part of their last residence hall programming of the year.

Each student brought white items of their choice to turn into colorful works of art. At the end of the event, the students excitedly compared their completed projects before leaving them to dry in the laundry room.

From left: Jamie O'Brien, Sydney Maeker, shelter staff member Kinesha P. and History and Economics Instructor David Allen.

April 17, 2017

Several Interlochen students led a water drive for the residents of Flint, Mich.

The student group Pay It Forward, led by seniors Jamie O’Brien and Sydney Maeker and Hall Coordinator Kat Ray, collected bottled water from students, faculty and staff throughout the month of February. On March 11, the students travelled to the Cedar Street Shelter in Flint to donate the water they collected. Through the students’ efforts, two carloads of bottled water were collected and donated to the residents of Flint.

Students from Mozart Beethoven participate in a "Love Your Selfie" event.

March 14, 2017

In honor of Mental Health Month, Interlochen Arts Academy's dormitories participated in a variety of activities to help their students rest, rejuvenate and learn about maintaining their mental health.

Students from Hemingway House visited the Dennison Center to discuss the positive impact of exercise on mental health. After the discussion, the students played a game of "Wundergame," a modified version of dodge ball.

Across the street, students from Mozart Beethoven House participated in a "Love Your Selfie" event. Students were encouraged to take selfies that exhibited something they love about themselves to boost their confidence and teach them how to be body-positive towards themselves and others.

When the weather felt out of control, all we could do is be flexible and roll with it! Impromptu fun cropped up all over campus including snow fort and snowman building, playful snowball fights, and in Mozart Beethoven, a fun break from travel meetings - ornament decorating!

The time between Thanksgiving Break and Winter Break is fleeting - only a few weeks, but it is definitely enough time to see the holidays and winter spirit come alive! Although the snow is here and gone again, decorations are going up, winter snowflakes are hanging from ceilings everywhere and paper chains are counting down the days until students can celebrate with their families! We wish everyone safe travel and a restful upcoming break.

In early November the members of the 2016-2017 Student Representative Board were announced.

Dean of Students Matthew Colpitts, who is also the Board’s advisor, slightly altered the way that students are elected to the board for this year. Instead of all positions being appointed by student vote, arts area representatives are now selected by the directors of each arts division. “This model provides more accountability and has allowed for students who are serious about arts and student life leadership an opportunity,” Colpitts said.

Even when campus is quiet, students are in class or at lunch, or nighttime has fallen, there are little representations of them that catch the eye. It might be a group of cello cases huddled together, or an art installation in the woods, or in this case, a group of artistically arranged skateboards and scooters. These sweet reminders of them experiencing high school together in this collaborative environment bring a smile to everyone's faces as they pass them by.

Halloween at Interlochen was full of activities, from silly to spooky. Some students listened to ghost stories told by storyteller J Berry, while some went through the haunted house, and others ate donuts hanging off of strings without the use of their hands!

In the early weeks of school, the focus is on creating our community. Students spend a lot of time in group activities, getting to know one another. In the photo above, a group of students works with Residence Life Staff to complete smaller squares of a larger image out on the Osterlin Mall, representing how we all come together to create the larger image of Interlochen.

Pay it Forward is a student-led group. Their mission is to spread kindness and generosity through volunteer work and issue advocacy. In honor of the National Park Service celebrating 100 years of national public lands this year, the Sleeping Bear Dunes staff hosted a beach clean-up. The students of Pay it Forward, along with two staff members, Kat Ray and Kirsten Hoffman, journeyed to Port Oneida to participate in the effort (while enjoying the dunes, of course!)

During a recent programming night, students in the Mozart Beethoven Residence Hall were broken into groups and given a set of clues that led them to many places on campus. The clues were meant to be a challenge for new students and returners alike. At each location, students had to pose for a photo, and also had to return within an hour. The three groups with the most correct photo locations won a prize!

At Interlochen, we don't have a prom. We have a MORP! This special day really gets moving in the afternoon with snacks and photos out on Osterlin Mall. After the students have a bite to eat, they load onto buses and go to the Grand Traverse Resort for a fancy dinner and dancing. When they are ready, they get back on the bus and head to Lucky Jacks, where they bowl, play bumper cars, laser tag, and arcade games until what feels like the wee hours of morning. MORP is a special time because it is so close to the end of the year, and such a great time to create some end of year memories and be with friends!

Amidst the stress of college acceptance letters, the end of year coming up fast, and being in the start of a transition period, students gathered at the library ampitheatre on Saturday night for a dance and the weather cooperated! Students cut loose in the cool night air and admired each other's moves as people jumped in the middle of the circle to shake off the stress!

Three students, Maria, Marieke, and Mickayla gathered in the Visual Art building to create a scratch block for the upcoming iron pour to represent their DeRoy community. They selected words that they thought described the identity of their DeRoy student group and created an image with them. The scratch block mold will be filled with iron in the coming weeks and become a completed art piece.

This weekend, one of the Student Activities was an event modeled after a gameshow called Silent Library. Players attempt silly tasks and some of them take penalties that come in many different forms. Through all of the silliness, no one is allowed to laugh!

Yesterday, Interlochen had a very special guest: Thomas Farley, better known as Mister Manners! Staff, faculty, and students all gathered throughout the day to learn how to polish their individual brand through the use of manners and ettiquette. Mister Manners took a realistic and non-judgemental look at how we behave today, differences in manners and ettiquette around the globe, and how we can better the first impressions others have of us in situations such as job interviews, auditions, and social events.

Everything on Student Appreciation Day is special! From a bouncy house castle in the Shed to a DJ at lunch in the cafeteria, it is a day to celebrate the reason we are all here - the students - and what a better time to celebrate than the last day of February, one of our toughest months? Special programming in residence halls, treats in the Maddy Building, and words of gratitude are all important parts of the Happy S.A.D tradition. Thank you for being here at Interlochen, students! We love being part of your life adventures. Parents, thank you for letting us share in the lives of your children. They are truly wonderful.

In our perpetual snowglobe of an environment, our skiers have been experiencing some great conditions at Crystal Mountain, our local ski resort. Their weekly trip to the slopes has been stress busting and exhilarating!

The DeRoy students have transformed the bulletin board in the entrance of the residence hall into a collection of memories. Since the beginning of the year they have been layering pictures, doodles, notes, and other special pieces to represent our diversity. It is a living board compiled of images that represent the identity we have created as a community. Even students who aren't residents of DeRoy engage and take interest in our group story. As the year continues, it will change as we change. We look forward to the end year when we reminisce through our memories by slowly removing pieces.

Yesterday, in honor of global awareness week, a group of international and domestic students joined together to create a community meeting celebrating art as a woldwide language. It was an exciting display of artistic ability that ended with members of the student body sharing their dreams for the world.

Inspired by holiday cheer in other buildings, a group of Hemingway boys spent the afternoon bringing light to all corners of their residence hall! With no snow on the ground yet, we have a bit of a strange sight for Michigan, but we are sure the snow will catch up soon!

Halloween at a school in which students study costume creation and stage makeup is a serious affair. From faculty lane trick-or-treating to a full blown haunted house held in DeRoy Residence Hall, students transformed for the weekend and got in the spooky spirit!

Somewhat resembling a modern day talent show, Interlochen Coffeehouses are a long standing tradition. Students come together to share their talents (in their arts area or not) with one another and share support for their peers as they casually perform young acts, works in progress, and the occasional polished piece. Students play a major role in the execution of Coffeehouses and they are a very special part of the Interlochen experience. This Halloween, students participated in a Halloween coffeehouse in full costumes under the Fine Arts building's twinkly lights, carrying on the tradition of generations past.

Moving around campus, you see creative and interesting things in every direction. Walking in front of the cereal in Pinecrest, Sam Thiele was wearing this fabulously painted coat that she did herself. It's moments like these that remind you that you are living amongst some of the most creative and amazing students in our world!

This past weekend, students participated in a Rotunda Rally hosted by the "CABbies" - the Campus Activities Board. This group of students works hard to put on student events with the Residence Life Staff team. The Rotunda Rally took place in all of the classroom rotundas and included fall fun like face painting, Pixar shorts, apple cider, and pumpkin related crafts!

When students attend boarding school, they still need the opportunities to learn life skills unrelated to their arts areas. As part of our Wellness Curriculum, October is Life Skills month! Students are learning all sorts of small skills to help them on their path of life. This past Monday, during an open block, some students gathered together to learn the finer points of doing their laundry from their housemom, some gathered to learn how to check the oil and tire pressure on a car, and others learned about time management.

Fall is in the air here at Interlochen. The days are cooler, the leaves are colorful and crunchy, and the squirrels are active! Residence Life enhanced the fall feelings with a little fall flavored programming.

Some students carved and decorated pumpkins, some enjoyed a morning oatmeal bar, and some completed fall related crafts and coloring projects.

All of our students are thrilled that our weekly fall apple drop-off has begun again, during which apples are brought to every front desk for students to snack on throughout the day.

We all feel winter right around the corner, but we aren't ready to stop enjoying fall yet!

There is something really special about young women living in a community of their peers. TJ Residence Hall recently hosted a special morning "Coffeehouse" (the boarding school equivalent of an open mic night) complete with morning coffee and doughnuts. The women of TJ gathered together to share their talents and good vibes. The first student to share read a piece to the sleepy room and the rest of the students were quickly awakened by the reader's intensity and openness. As she finished, snaps and cheers sprang forth from the pajama-clad audience. Art is alive - even in the sleepy morning!

The students of Picasso joined Logan Woodruff in the basement for a pizza making lesson with a tasty end. The wafting scent of baking pizza brought other students down to join the fun. Being that it October is Life Skills month at Interlochen, it seemed fitting that our students who are soon headed off to college get a good lesson in pizza making!

Sponsor Groups are small student groups lead by a staff or faculty member. They are a great way for students to have some special meals, get off campus, and make a connection with an adult and some other students. Sponsor group fun is well underway this year! From homey dinners and pool parties in faculty homes to cookie baking and fall fun at the corn maze, sponsor groups can provide a small extra special something in the student experience.

In an effort to cut loose and be a little silly, the Student Activities team hosted a semi-formal Pop-Tart tasting this past weekend. Students dressed up and judged several different types of Pop-Tarts based on their aroma, flavors, and overall appeal. When a day is full of serious work, it is great to cut loose with some light humor!

Students gathered last night to watch the republican debates in the lobby of DeRoy. Discussion ensued as they listened to the candidates. The presidential race is a common topic of discussion now, eventhough it seems far in the future. It is exciting to see our students participate in America's ongoing discussions!

This year’s school-wide theme, to coincide with the United Nations year theme, is LIGHT! Both metaphorical and physical interpretations of light will be mixed into all we do this year. To kickoff the theme, we focused on all types of light during Opening Convocation. The seats were full and we all watched with anticipation as different faculty members performed various forms of art, to explore different types and qualities of light, and ended the evening by raising our individual candlelights into the air in the darkness of the auditorium. We saw the impact of our individual small lights coming together to light the room. It was an exciting and memorable experience!

Students rushed into the concourse on the first day of classes with enthusiasm! It was a high energy morning and the bustling crowd moved quickly! As reminders of uniform were passed around, several students posed first day of school photos in their “blues”.

To open the year, each residence hall of students came together to learn information about their hall, enjoy some community building programming together, and spend some time together in the sunshine. Each hall did something a little different to get to know one another and celebrate the beginning of what should be a very exciting year!

Sarah Prosek and Josh Bassette took a group of students to Traverse City early in the morning on the last Saturday of April for the annual Color Run! After getting pelted with different color puffs each Kilometer of the 5k, the group celebrated at Panera after wrapping up in plastic bags in the car to contain the powdery color! What a way to ring in a colorful season!

Interlochen students have really hit their stride at this point in the year. They have deeply bonded with friends, have their weekly routines, and know where to order their favorite food. They are happily celebrating spring and the nearing end of the year!

Each month, students are nominated for the "Student of the Month" award through Kiwanis Club. This month, our Vice President, TJ Mackey, accompanied Curt Clare and Daniela Sanchez to the event. Congratulations, Curt and Daniela!

The wait has felt so long as the chick eggs incubated in Picasso. The students have been excited to see the result and just a few days ago, it happened! Chicks began to finally hatch. At first they were a bit wobbly on their feet and wet from their eggs, but they have now puffed up into yellow spring time balls of fluff!

Dave Coleman, the "Dating Doctor," came to Interlochen and led an engaging discussion on relationships, what makes them successful, the common pitfalls, and how to see if someone is interested in you. The students seemed to really connect with the topic and stayed after the show to ask lots of questions and to gather more information. Even the adults in the crowd were grateful for a new perspective! Thanks for joining us, Dave!

Enzo Iannello, an Interlochen guitar student, took the lead for a concert celebrating April 1st. The students loved seeing their fellow students perform in a casual setting! Energy is on the rise! Spring is here!

Today, our thermometers hit 61 degrees here! Students celebrated all over campus. Coats were shed, music played out open windows (can you believe it?!) and groups congregated out in the sunshine. When we return from spring break, it will be a super fast 63 days until the end! We are holding out for a snow-less graduation day!

Building tiny terrariums, a quiet snowshoe through the woods, teambuilding activities, watching a Ted talk, and personal reflection activities were just a few of the things that took place this Wednesday night during evening Residence Life Programming. Allowing a break from the normal routine of the day, this opportunity to bring the whole community together to do something different and out of the ordinary was a nice change in schedule. Students, organized by hall or by building, all participated in an activity that was a bit out-of-the-norm to promote social growth, encourage student connections, and de-stress together.

It has been very cold here on campus and students are often forced to retreat indoors because of the harsh winds and blowing snow. Some turn to homework, some to movies, some to practice, but they all find pockets of time to have a little creative fun! It is images like this one that remind us that we live in an extremely creative community!

After having a hugely successful show at Halloween, the Go Rounds gave us another round of dancing, laughing, and amazing music. Their unique sounds filled Fine Arts and the temperature rose after a day of being cooped up because of the extreme cold. Students and staff alike worked through their extra energy and bounced around the dance floor as the lights shifted and changed colors. We hope to see the Go Rounds again in the future!

The night began with everyone trying an arm excercise to self select into the show and see if they were open to the experience. A large group of selected student volunteers took the stage as Erick began the show. Desgined to blow off a little steam and laugh through the tough part of winter, having a hypnotist on stage brought the student audience some cheer and allowed everyone to be a little silly! A big thank you goes out to all of our student volunteers!

Students gathered in Fine Arts last night for a creative surge! The audience members volunteered to jump in and play improv games and laughed with one another as they played a game called "Sit, Stand, or Lay" during which they were given a scene, and each of the three participants had to fill each of the three positions at any one time - but still have it make sense as they moved through them.

The hazy stage fog caught the panning colored lights this Saturday, as students gathered on the stage of Corson Auditorium for a very special Winter Semi-Formal. The production team, DJ, and planning team set the stage for students to sweat out their stress, get lost in the music, and spend special time with friends moving to their favorite songs. With well over 200 students in attendance, the stage of Corson was the place to be on Saturday night.

The students danced the night away at the Flashback Decade Dance celebrating music from 2005. They raised the heat and sang along to hits like Holla Back Girl, We Belong Together, and Since You've Been Gone as the snow fell outside. It was a great stress reliever at the end of the week!

We're pleased to join the Interlochen community as counselors in the health services office. In this role, our main objective is to be available for Interlochen's students and to support them to be as successful as possible during their time at the Academy.

As a parent, the most important thing for you to know is that we are here for your child and we have an open door policy. It doesn't matter how big or small the issue is, we are here to assist and will refer them out to a community therapist if indicated. We also want to be as proactive as possible.

Students can visit our office for a variety of reasons. They may be having difficulty adjusting to being away from home, or feeling sad, overwhelmed, isolated, dealing with grief and loss issues, periods of big change in their lives, etc.

Our motto is: when in doubt, call or come by and see us. We will be glad to discuss any situation. And we follow the same motto with the students.

As the parent, we believe you have a key role to play. Support your child, just as you would if they were living at home. If you feel they could benefit from extra support, encourage them to seek us out. Of course, students are also free to seek us out on their own.

Generally, it is best to make an appointment to see one of us, but we will speak with a student or parent right away if we are available. Simply call, or have the student call the Health Services Office at 231.276.7220.

We are looking forward to working with you and your child in the coming years!

With temperatures hovering around 2 degrees Fahrenheit, we are all becoming winter warriors! Students are finding creative outerwear and cozy indoor spaces. Check out the creative face warmer above that one student donned on the way to Community Meeting.

Fire and Ice, a nighttime event from this past weekend, was widely successful with 250 students or more in attendance! It was an opportunity for students to shake off their winter hibernation and come out to enjoy a night of ice skating, snow shoeing, s'mores, hot cocoa, and the company of friends around a roaring fire. The ice skating rink was full, emptying only to be cleared off by shovels mid-event. These special moments are the ones that carry us through the darkness of winter together and teach us to appreciate the season!

We are so lucky to have a special dinner for all of the students before they leave for their winter break. Staff and faculty join forces to serve this very special meal, hosted by the Administrative staff and the President and his wife. It was a very pretty evening in Stone Cafeteria which was looking very cozy for this candlelit event.

After RSVPing, the students dressed to the nines, minded their most formal manners, and arrived at their reservation time for a tasty meal of steak, fish, and stuffed veggies, topped off with a banana and chocolate pie for dessert with their closest friends.

We hope this memory of time together sends them on their way for break feeling full in spirit!

It is a time for holidays and enjoying the winter! A few dorms are ringing in the season with holiday decorating parties. The lobbies become such a cozy environment this time of year. You can see the snow falling outside the fireplaces are roaring, and groups of students are enjoying one another's company over some hot cocoa. With only a week and a half left until break, we are savoring all of the special moments.

Above we have Julie and Abbey hanging out in a fort that was built in the DeRoy Lobby during their meeting. Being a student leader isn't all serious and Tiffany, their hall counselor knows how to balance the fun!

Halloween at a school with its own costume department is no laughing matter, and our students were dressed to the nines for Halloween (well, as scary things and pop-culturally relevant people, that is). The students that work on the Student Activities crew and the staff came together ahead of time and dressed the whole rotunda in spooky spider webbing and then lit up the scene with lights. The DJs of the night, Mikaela and Maria, were on it from the start. Check out these costumes and makeup! The following night, a band from Kalamazoo, Graham Parsons and the Go-Rounds had a show in Fine Arts during a Halloween carnival! There was cupcake decorating, temporary tattoos, and cotton candy. The students had a full weekend of fun, silliness, and Halloween sugar! Now, we head into our final weeks before Thanksgiving break...

Usually I would plan to post about a specific event for all of you to read about, but sometimes the most beautiful moments here in your children's lives are the unplanned ones. Just a few moments ago on this Tuesday night, I was walking across the mall on main campus when the sunlight broke through a stormy sky and poured across my path. I felt drawn down to the Stone waterfront only to be greeted by a stunning sunset. The water was an urgent stormy grey and the wave caps were lit with orange flashes of light reflecting from the sky. I turned around in time to see students begin to pour over the stairs down to the beach. They must have seen the sky lit with tangerine. More and more came - the sight seemed to really pull them in. There were soon about forty or fifty students just taking in the sight, their arms around their dear friends as the sun slipped farther into the horizon. The wind was in our faces and the water had a wintery look, but that only made the moment more intensely special. This is fall at Interlochen.

The Homecoming dance this October was a sight to behold. Many students worked alongside staff to pull together decorations and set up fancy centerpieces. The Campus Activity Board of students were immensely helpful in getting together the last minute details. A hoop of tulle was attached to the ceiling and swaths of material hung in the air. The Shed was transformed from a gym and rehearsal space to a glowing ancient Grecian themed ballroom. There were delicious eclairs, pillars wrapped in tiny lights, and colorful spots moving about the room as music pumped through the air. The DJ of the night was Gabe and he set the tone with perfect musical choices. The students came dressed in all styles, from semi-formal to imitation togas and danced the evening away. It was a huge success!

Yesterday, Residence Life staff took a large group of students out into the open air to enjoy the harvest season at Jacob's Corn Maze. It was a silvery grey day and the air was crisp. Laughter was heard all over the farm as students tossed corn into the air and others picked apples. The maze experience was secret-agent themed and the participants enjoyed a silly themed video before entering. Some got lost in the maze and were cheerily relieved to be found at the end. The students returned in the afternoon for classes.

Senior year happens so quickly: the scheduling, the rushing, the college applications, and the recitals. We are already one month into the school year, wondering how the days can feel so full and long but the weeks fly by. Sometimes, you have to stop and smell the roses.

For the senior class, one large pause in the year is a day long escape to Mackinac Island, the land of fudge and freedom. Given eight hours and one island in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, over one hundred and eighty seniors accompanied by a mix of faculty and staff, boated to the destination and frolicked about as if college deadlines weren’t rapidly approaching and Monday was far off in the distance. They rode bikes, sunbathed, walked around, swung in elementary playground swings, skipped about, window shopped, and above all, they ate. They ate fudge, drank coffee and topped it off with more fudge on the ride home. They came home exhausted and with happy hearts. Fun and relaxation were had by all!

A Coffeehouse at Interlochen is truly a sight to behold. Named for the atmosphere, this particular style of open-mic event is an Interlochen standard. For years, the Coffeehouse has been a student favorite. Once a month, students gather to share short vignettes and snippets of talent inside or outside of their arts major with one another in the cozy Fine Arts building. Students pile into the room and their faces glow with admiration for one another and the twinkling of strings of lights. There is a strong sense of support and celebration for one another. Being the first Coffeehouse of the year, this event event was hosted by our Student Body President, Bayleigh and her friend, Oliver. It was a big success; the performers dazzled the crowd and the applause was raucous. Check out the photos above to see it in action.

Residence Life programming is a special time for both students and staff. It gives us time with one another that stands in place of home life. Some days, it is a cozy movie or game night, sometimes it is a craft based activity that brings people together, and sometimes it is more serious or educational based on the needs of the students at certain times.

Already, the Residence Life Department is off and running with programming opportunities in different dorms and halls ranging from a “Destroy this Journal page” night in Karolyn’s hall in TJ, a “Planet Earth” viewing party with Devon in Hemingway, a “Picasso Unplugged” day time activity, a paper crane and origami night in Tiffany’s hall in DeRoy, and many more. Here are just a few photos to give you an idea!

At arts boarding school, half-time is intermission, time outs are the silent moments between movements, you have to save seats on the bus for cello cases, “two-a-days” is a style of practice we just don’t understand because when it comes to your craft, you never stop, and no one cares about the scores as much as we care about a good poetry reading or film, and we love it that way. Yet even with those differences, no one resists a good homecoming and spirit week. This week we had students, faculty, and staff going all-out for our themed days including twin day, wacky Wednesday, Lumberjack day, and class color day. All of these spirited days are building toward Homecoming weekend which will include a dance and student vs. faculty flag football game! Take a look at some of our spirited students and staff participating in lumberjack day in their flannel shirts!

We prepped and planned and got everything organized. Residence Life was so prepared it felt like the night before Christmas, we were so giddy. And then, like rays of sunshine, all the students descended upon us and the opening of Academy was real. Structured as a four day extravaganza, Opening Weekend consisted of: moving in, registration, a multitude of residence hall and building activities, outings by art division, and Opening Convocation. It is such a lovely period of time, with everyone’s excitement at it’s peak, with all the hope of the year overflowing from new and returning students alike.